Forever Yours
by Taisi
Summary: It's been years since that trip to the spirit world. Neither have forgotten. After an accident, theres one person Chihiro needs more than any other...will he come? And what happens if he does?
1. Chapter 1

**First, this is my very firstest Miyazaki film fic. I am planning a clouple more. His movies ROCK! -ahem- Sorry. I do NOT own _Spirited Away. ..._Sheesh. ...I wish I did though. -sobs-**

**Okay, now, about that one girl, ya know, the cleaner at the bath house? The one that looked after Sen?...Er, I meant, Chihiro? Yeah, about her--I think her name ws Lori, right? If it wasn't I am sooooo sorry! And uhm...hey what were those two twin witches names? I know one was nice but the other was just plan weird, evil...and weird. -grins hesitantly- Pleeeease tell me in a review? **

**Hikari: What a way to get 'em to review, eh? Ask 'em questions and _supposedly _need answers to--OUCH!**

**Me: Now SHUT UP! Seriously, I dont know.**

Chapter 1

Chihiro's parents had noted some definate changes in their daughter ever since they went throught that strange tunnel. She wasn't as fearful and hesitant as she used to be. She accepted changes or delays without complaint and took all in her stride. Her first day of school, she entered the building with her head held high without one look back at her anxious mother. Everyone she'd met thought she was different, but not exactly odd, and she'd made many new friends on that one day. She moved without a sound, as though instead of human flesh she was but a spirit, bound to this world by some love or duty, and one wave or wind would set her flying free.

Years passed.

She was a beautiful girl. She'd grown taller, but hadn't lost that stubbron gleam in her eye and the way she held herself. Her brown hair had grown out, but she still wore it up in a pony-tail, always using the special band. She had a childish beauty, but it now gave her a sense of an exotic rare beauty that all the boys at school tried to call their own. There was hardly a boy at school who hadn't asked her. But she unhesitantly turned them each down with a gentle word and an apology. This made her even _more _pursued. But no matter what the offer, whether bribe, or love, or desperation, she always said no.

Her heart belonged to someone else.

It seemed so much like a dream...Going through the tunnel, her parents' transformation, meeting Haku...Ah, Haku. She missed him so much, but never seemed to have lost him. He always seemed to be there. She would sometimes look up into the sky and half-expect to see a silver gypsy-ribbon shape snaking gracefully through the air, past and through the clouds, over and to the moon. The only proof she had that it was real was the hair-tie that she had been given...the one woven by her friends.

She was, in so many words, the most popular girl in school.

And yet...she was never all there...

_Haku..._

oooOOOOOOooo

"Chihiro, where are you going?" Her mother asked anixously as Chihiro raced down the stairs toward the front door.

"Huh...oh! Out with Sai," she said, smiling. "We're going to the park."

Her mother smiled. "Oh, alright. Be back for dinner."

Chihiro winced. "Uh...mom? Can I spend the night over there? Pleeease?"

A playful sigh. "...Yes, dear, you can. Have fun!"

"I plan on it. Bye!"

oooOOOOOOooo

Sai and Chihiro walked along the pond's edge. The trees were swaying ever so slightly; leaves were cascading softly down around them. The girls each picked a leaf to watch its fluttering progress down to the ground. Sai's fell victim to a squirrel. Chihiro's landed in the pond. They grinned, and picked another leaf.

"Hey, Chihiro," a voice from behind them made them spin around. It was Ghu, a very sought after boy in their school, not to mention a jerk and a jock. "How ya doin?"

"I _was _just fine," she replied, turning away again. She and Sai walked up the pond's edge, knowing full well that Ghu would follow. He did.

"Aww, come on, don't be like that," he said in the "I-am-the-guy-of-your-dreams-bow-to-me-because-I'm-all-you've-ever-wanted" voice. He reached up to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me! I haven't forgotten what you did to poor Ahi. Don't think I'm going to swoon and sigh over you. Just get lost." With that she turned and strode away, Sai by her side. Looking over her shoulder, Sai said,

"You know, one day you'll regret doing that; he's gonna get his revenge on your making a fool of him."

"I have _nooo _doubt that's what he'll do." Chihiro grinned at Sai who smiled back.

"And you still do it?"

"Yep. They are _not _going to pin me down."

Sai sighed contentedly, and put an arm around Chihiro's shoulder in a friendly fashion. "And no one ever could." Chihiro smiled again and put an arm on her friend's shoulder as well.

Suddenly, Sai gasped, and fell forward. Chihiro caught her before she hit the ground. "Are you alright? Tell me what happened." It was hard work for Chihiro to stay calm, but she knew that that was what her friend needed.

All Sai did was reach up to touch the back of her head, then she shuddered and fell still.

No pulse.

No signs of breathing.

Her eyes didn't dialate.

...She was dead.

Chihiro was silent. She turned her friend over and parted her hair...Bullet...blood...She was shot in the back of the head! Chihiro had only ever seen that time of thing in movies or read them in books...But she knew as well as anyone that they happened. She realized that tears had been falling down her face this whole time. She let them fall. She spun around. There was Ghu still holding the gun in position. He looked shocked.

"I...I didn't mean to kill Sai! I was aiming...for...you..." He realized how _stupid _that must have sounded and said, "I...I'm sorry!" his heart wasn't in it. He was just trying to avoid trouble.

"Are you _dumb?" _Chihiro yelled. "What's the matter with you? You're all upset because you killed my best friend when you were "_aiming for me"!" _She felt in no mood to give mercy. "Leave! Now!" He did, without offering any help or anything to her. Chihiro was still crying softly as she picked up Sai's purse and found her cell phone.

"911, what's your emergency?" The woman's voice was monotonous and didn't sound at all like the type of voice she needed to her.

"I-it's my friend...W-we were walking in the p-park and a kid from school shot her...She...she's dead!"

"Are you sure--"

"Of c-course I am! She w-wasn't breathing, there was n-no pulse and, h-her eyes...were...cold."

oooOOOOOOooo

Chihiro, as she sat in her room after being fondled and cooed over by her mother and interigated and comforted by her father, knew how he had missed.

_And this was the day I was going to wear my hair down, _she thought, taking her pony-tail down. She ran her thumb along the patterns in it, tears rushing down her cheeks once more. As they landed on the band, she thought, _Haku...if I ever needed you at any time it would be now. Please. Pleaaase Haku...I...love you._

"..._Pure love. She went to the witch's house to break your curse."_

_"Aw, that's love for you."_

_"...So you're real name must be...Kohaku River!"_

_"Your parents have woken up...and their there, waiting for you."_

_"Now go...and dont look back."_

_Haku! _

The last thing she remembered before falling into a fitfull sleep was her mother and father entering her room to stay with her through the night.

oooOOOOOOooo

Haku jerked upright, all hearing trained in that one area. Lori looked up. "What? What is it?"

"I just though I heard...No...no it couldn't have been," he said shaking his head as they continued to walk along the halls of the bathhouse. Lori looked at him suspiciosly.

"C'mon, what did you hear?"

"...Chihiro."

"Who?"

He looked at her, startled. Then he grinned half-heartedly. "Oh, you knoe her by her slave-name; Sen."

"You heard Sen! Where? Is she alright? How did you!" Lori immidiently sprang a thousand questions on him at once, which he tried to straighten out.

"I think I heard Chihiro...I don't know where...maybe in my mind. She sounded like she was...heartbroken...And I have no clue how I did."

Lori sighed, and ran her hands over her face tiredly. "I miss her. She was so brave! And she really worked hard. How old would she be now? Your age right?"

A nod. "Yes."

"Nineteen?" A low whistle and a teasing grin.

Then Haku stopped suddenly again. He was strainging to make out a faint, dim voice in his head...

..._Haku...if I ever needed you at any time it would be now. Please. Pleaaase Haku...I...love you._

That was pretty much all he needed to hear. "Lori? Are you coming with me?"

Lori looked at him wide-eyed. "Where?"

**Hey! How'd ya like it? It'll get _preeeeetty _interesting...WOOOOT! Pleeeeease review! Please! _PLEASE! _**


	2. Chapter 2

**Uh...um...:ahem: Here...you go...please...no flamers. R&R, please...OH! And thanks everyong for the answers. ---laughs hesitantly--- I fixed the names...heh, heh. And thanks to everyone again for aaaaaall the reviews! It means a lot. And Kosmic, you are welcome to kill Ghu for all I care.**

**And I'm sorry about the age thing. I didn't know he was two years older...--stumped--- ---shrugs--- Ah, well. So if he was nineteen she'd be...seventeen. ---grins--- Sorry. Gah! Quick question; what was the boiler mane's name again?**

**Hikari: Oh yeah and --looks around and whispers-- This chappie sucks, alright? Yeah, yeah, she tried her hardest but the turn-out sucks. It will get better though. --shows his loyalty-- I know it!**

**Me: Huh?**

**Hikari: Oh, nothing.**

Chapter 2

"Chihiro." Her mother quietly knocked on the girl's door. "Chihiro, are you awake? You've got visitors."

Chihiro groaned, thinking it was probably some long lost aunt or grandma come to pay their duties as a kind and helpful family member. Who else would come to see her? It had been two days since the "accident". Ghu had been punished but Chihiro didn't know how severly. She shifted in her chair and turned to gaze out her window some more. She mumbled, "Who is it?"

"Um...Haku and Lin? ...Do you know them?"

That took a moment to sink in.

A long moment.

Even the trees and wind and water outside seemed frozen, wondering and waiting, hoping with all it's might...

oooOOOOOOooo

There was silence in the room. The two..._visitors _looked at each other worriedly and anxiously. It was all they could do just to wait "patiently" outside the door instead of breaking it down and running to their friend in greeting.

Chihiro's mother frowned worriedly. She knocked again. "Chihiro? Are you all right? Do you not want to see anybody?"

There was a muffled yelp and a thud. "Gah! I-I'm coming!"

oooOOOOOOooo

"I'm coming!" She yelled and, in her haste to get to the door, fell out of her chair. Wincing she got up and ran over to the door, jerking it open.

Instant silence.

The three friends looked at each other.

Chihiro's father came up the stairs to stand with his wife as they watched the silence.

Then--

"Haku! Lin!" Chihiro ran forward throwing her arms around them. "I thought I'd _never _see you again! Really!"

"Sen! We've missed you back at the bath house," Lin said, hugging her back. "You have no _idea _how hard it was for us to get here. We--"

But already Chihiro was looking at Haku. Then she ran forward and locked her arms around his neck. "H...Haku...I've missed you so much." He looked just like she remembered. Cropped black hair, white and blue shirt. He had grown as well, but, like Chihiro, had kept that childhood image. Maybe it was for fear of not being recognized when their love was searching for them...? "W...what took you so long?" She tried to smile, hastily wiping her eyes. She very slowly and very reluctantly let go of him.

Haku saw the effort and smiled back. "Well, like Lin was saying, it wasn't exactly easy to get here. I didn't think we'd be able to--"

"--but _let's_ not get into that." Lin finished. She glanced at Chihiro again. "It is great to see ya Sen."

"You too Lin." She opened her mouth to say more but heard a cough. Spinning around she saw her parents were staring at the newcomers...stragely.

"Ah...Chihiro...Did you tell them? About...what happened?" Lin whispered quietly so only Chihiro and Haku could hear.

A shake of the head. Whispered, "I didn't think they'd need to know. Besides how was I suppose to tell them? 'Hey mom, hey dad, guess what? You accidently entered a spirit world and turned into pigs and I had to save you!' Would that do?"

"That probably would have done the trick, yeah," Lin grinned shaking her head. Then she grew serious again and said, "You might wanna fill 'em in...That is...if you..." she cleared her throat. "If you want to come back? Not to stay! Just to visit!"

Haku nodded, not taking his eyes off her. If her parents weren't here they wouldn't have to bo so overly cautious about what they say. He sighed inwardly. _Ah, well. _"Would you?"

Chihiro couldn't believe it. It was really in all open honesty too good to be true. Her two best friends from the spirit world, one the person she felt she couldn't live without, appear literally on her doorstep and ask her to please come back to the place she loves?

Talk about reverse reality.

"Um, mom, dad." Chihrio stood beside the two visitors, smiling genuinely for the first time in years. Her parents seemed taken aback. "This is Haku and this is Lin. Lin, Haku---this is my mom and dad."

Haku bowed and Lin nodded. "Ah, Sen--"

Her mother interrupted. "Oh, Lin was it? Why do you call Chihiro "Sen"? That isn't her name."

Chihiro glared icily at her mom. "_Mom!" _she hissed.

Lin looked a little surprised then she laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry. Just a nickname, I guess. Right...Chihiro?"

Chihiro let out a breathe she didnt know she'd been holding, but didn't stop glaring at her mother. "Yup."

Haku looked pointedly at her. She blinked. "You'll both have to help." Turning to her parents she said, "...Uh...There's...ah...well...There's something...Do you remember when we went to Kohaku River? Remember how I fell in? And how, _somehow, _I survived?"

Her mother and father looked at each other wondering how this was relevant, but they decided to humor her. "Yes."

"Okay, remember when we first moved here?"

"...Yes. You were'nt very happy at all," her mother said smiling slightly. "But after a couple hours, as soon as we got to the house actually, you seemed just fine about it."

Chihiro shook her head. "Actually, it was after we went through that tunnel. You remember---when dad got lost? And he wanted to see what was on the other end of the tunnel?"

Her dad grinned. "Yeah...and _you _didn't want to go."

Chihiro nodded and paused. Lin waved for her to continue and Haku nodded. Then she said, "Umm...do you remember that market we found? With all that food?"

A slow nod from the both of them. This memory was very hazy...

"Okay...do you remember...gah..." Chihiro chuckled anxioulsy. "Do you remember turning..." she cleared her throat _"..._Into pigs...?"

Confused and hesitant stares. "...what?"

"Didn't think so."

Lin and Haku helped, but it was still hard to tell the whole story.

**This chappie sucks, I know, alright? Pleeeeease, help me out here and stick with it! This was one of the boring chapters that take forever to right and make no sense, and are really stupid. Oh, yeah, don't forget to tell me that boiler guy's name. Thanks! Oh! I just watched Princess Mononoke for the first time. It ROCKED! Well, of course it did it was a Miyazaki film. Now all I gotta see is Nausicaa. And My Neighbor Tortoro, but Nausicaa more. Does anyone know a site where I can watch that online? For free:sighs: Ah, well. Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Me:whimpering:**

**Hikari:moaning:**

**Random Person:groaning:**

**Me: Ow...dang...that Writer's Block sure packs a punch...**

**Hikari: Yeah...even on that guy. :motions at random person then winces at movement:**

**Random Person: Here's...the...next chappie. Oh yeah, and this one's gonna be suckish, okay? Took a while to work around this, but her Writer;'s Block...is very controlling. And, uh, the next chapter will be a lot better; this is more of the "informative and boring", as six labeled so carefully, type of chaps.**

Chapter 3

"...And then we walked back out of the tunnel. I was holding onto your arm so hard, mom, because I couldn't turn around and look back."

Chihiro's parents were silent. At any other occasion, under any other circumstances, with any other person, they'd have called the police on whomever was saying such a thing. But as it was their daughter, and as two of the people mentioned were sitting in front of them and as it tied well with how she'd been acting, they had no real choice but to believe her.

"So," she said, unmercifully continuing. "I can go back, right? To see everyone?" Her eyes sparkled, something her parents hadn't seen in a while. Now her parents saw that she stood boldly, fists clenched, with a brave grin playing across her face.

How could they have missed these things? How could they say no to their daughter after hearing what happened to her?...But then...how could they be sure if these things really did happen?

That thought stunned them. They didn't need to second guess their daughter. She's never lied. Now would be the perfect time to reward her for that. Reward? Why reward? She deserves this. For all those years...that unbearable secret...Her...friends...came back for her. To say she couldn't go would be...inhumane?

"Uhm...y...yes...dear you m-may go back..." her father's voice was at first uncertain, and then very strong. "But we will be coming with you."

Silence. Chihiro looked at her parents, then at Lin and Haku. They looked back. Chihiro cleared her throat. "I don't think you should, guys. ...It'd be...kinda shocking. And who knows, you may turn back into pigs!" She hoped her bluff would sound convincing.

It did, but not enough to go the distance.

"Be that as it may," her mother stood, slightly shaking a little. "We should come with you. It may not be safe."

"Mom, I've been there before. I had to save you, I had to outwit a bunch of spirit things, and I had to leave behind my friends. Not to mention, I had to keep it all a secret. Now, you say, that it "might not be safe"? Pleeeease, mom!"

Her father straightened. "Since when do you take that tone of voice with your mother and I?" His voice and eyes were stern and Lin scooted back slightly.

"Since when? Since when have I had the chance to go back to see the spirit world? Since when do my best _human _friends get shot?" Haku noticed she clenched her fists at that and her eyes watered; he layed a hand on her shoulder, eyes soft.

Lin stood up quickly, sensing the danger of the on-coming burst out, and said, "Your welcome to come! Just as long as you keep your hands to yourself, don't say anything stupid, and _don't touch anything." _She did the first bit for Chihiro's parents sake, and the last bit for Chihiro.

Chihiro's eyes narrowed, but then she shrugged. "Okay. So when do we leave?"

Her mother gasped. "Oh, I have to pack! We may need a change of clothes, and some lunch, oh and we might need money too, so--"

Chihiro, Lin and Haku stared at her. "Uh...mom? You won't need a change of clothes, there's food there, and why would they take mortal money?"

Her parents turned red. To break the silence, her father asked, how will we be getting there?"

The three who had already visited the world...in a human thinking form, said in unison, "We walk."

oooOOOOOOooo

"We'd've been here _hours _earlier if _they _weren't so out of shape!" Chihiro mumbled darkly, tapping her foot; the sound echoed through the tunnel as Lin, Haku and Chihiro waited for her parents.

"Too true," Lin said helpfully, so when the couple finally reach the trio, they were laughing energetically.

"W-well? How...do we get...inside?" her father panted, leaning over his knees.

"We follow the tunnel through," Haku said calmly, too "polite" to mention their current state. "And then we'll come through. Since it took us longer than we expected--" Lin cleared her throat pointedly "--we only have a couple minutes to get through before it rains; then stream gets too deep and wide."

"You could hardly call it a stream then," Chihiro said, following Lin inside the tunnel. Haku fell in beside her, her parents taking up the rear.

oooOOOOOOooo

Soon it was so dark that Chihiro couldn't see. Although she'd matured greatly, she'd always had a lasting fear of darkness; she'd imagine her loved ones falling through, her unable to reach them. That in it's self was awful, but when she saw Haku falling, it haunted her for always.

The shadows of the tunnel fell over her, which shocked her scared even more; there was no light to cast shadows in this pitch-black place. When they drew nearer into the tunnel, it began to storm outside, booming on the roof and walls, lashing at every loose brick, seeping through to drip on the travelers whenever possible.

At a particularly dark turn, when a crack of thunder sounded, Chihiro squeaked and grabbed Haku's hand tightly in both of hers'. He blinked then smiled at her, although she couldn't see it, and tightened the hold. She sighed releivedly, and a little love-sick, and walked on, trying not to let her imagination run wild, to show her horrors visible only in the dark.

Soon enough, they reached the end of the tunnel, and ran down the hill. The "stream" was growing larger and wider and deeper by the second; while it had been storming, it had begun to flood. They group leapt across some dominantly large rocks and to the other side, climbing up to the ground level, just in time.

"So, Chihiro," Lin said, waving a hand at the bathhouse. "Are you ready to come back?"

**Finally, this chappie's over! It was so evil, and hard to write and I think I got a little too out of character, but please keep reading it! I'm surprised I got it legible enough to post it! We've been having some problems with Writer's Block lately...:waves a hand at her companions:**

**Hikari:moaning on the ground after being trampled:**

**Random Person:holding his stomach after being hurled into a tree:**

**Me: Yeah...So please stick with us! I know we'll kick that Writer's Block's butt!**

**Writer's Block:towering behind her, Hikari and Random Person:**

**All: Eeep:run away:**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hiya! Thanks for all the reviews! Really encouraging, guys, thanks. Oh, yeah... I am now the author of twenty-three fanfics! YEAH! Oh, yeah, and this next chappie was _real _difficult to write, too, so that's why it's so short. The next chappie's gonna be even _harder, _but I'll try to make it longer, okay? Please, Pleeeeease, stick with the story!**

**  
Hikari and Aku:eating Six's cake to celebrate her twenty-third story: **

**Aku:through a mouthful: Hey, you want some of your cake?**

Chapter 4

Chihiro looked at the bathhouse like seeing a dream become reality. "Oh, it's just like I remembered it." She took a few steps forward, looking all around her for a breif moment, then she turned and beamed at Haku. "Oh, Haku, thank you!" She ran forward and hugged him tightly. "And you, Lin! I can't believe how much I missed it!"

Her parents exchanged a suspicious glance.

Lin saw that and glared at them feircly, eyes clearly saying, "Back the heck off."

Chihiro turned to look at her parents: Lin turned around just in time to act innocent as Chihiro said, "Mom, Dad...This is the bathhouse I had to work and live in. That over there," she pointed to a far off building, "was your old pig-pen, and that" she then pointed at a train that just when rumbling by in the distance, sutting through the water, "is the train that took me, No-face and Boe to Granny...er...Zeniba's house."

Her parent's looked at her dumb-founded. "Uh..."

Haku concealed a grin. "Zeniba is Yubaba's twin sister. Yubaba is the evil witch that ruled the bathhouse, who had people their enslaved by taking their names. She took mine and "named" me Haku. She took Chihiro's and gave her Sen. I helped Chihiro remember hers, before she completely forgot, and then Chihiro broke the curse that was on me." He'd grown a little red in the face, though the blush was hardly noticeable, and he didn't mention _how _she broke the curse.

Lin nodded. "Yeah, and I _think _we'd better get back."

"Why?"

"Lunch!"

Chihiro grinned big then let her smile fade. "Uh...are they still mad about the Noface problem?"

"Huh? Oh, no, no! They think you're a hero!" laughed Lin, putting an arm around her shoulders to lead her across the bridge, leaving Haku and Chihiro's parents to cross after them.

oooOOOOOOooo

For a while, no one seemed to want to do anything. Her parents had taken a liking to the food and gorged themselves, something that had severly worried Chihiro, and Lin had run off with a hurried apology; in turn for helping Haku find Chihiro, she had slacked horribly on her work. Haku was giving her parents a tour, via their daughter's request, which left Chihiro alone.

After suffering a _long _and boisterous welcome, she had ventured up to the room she used to share with the other women and girls that worked at the bath house, and went outside to the balcony. Looking out over the ocean-like waters left from the nights' rain, she sighed. It felt good to let go of all her emotions, just to let the world see how truly weary she was, even if it was the Spirit World.

She'd dressed once more in the pink suit and white apron that she used to where, slipping off her shoes in the boiler room and giving them and her clothes to the little dust-balls that lived there. She'd taken her hair down, but kept the band around her wrist; experience told her it was best to keep it on at all times. Her long chesnut hair swayed around her, shaping her older curves, to hang at her waist as she leaned against the wood that railed the edge of the platform. _Sometimes I just want to drift away..._Then, in spite of herself and the courage she always tried to show, she felt herself begin to cry; the past was creeping up on her and it locked her in its cruely dark embrace. She let the tears stream down as she hid her face in her arms as she rested them on the railing.

Haku came onto the balcony in time to see her emotionaly break down. Her delicate frame shook with sobs and her breathing was uneven and shallow. He approached her quickly, peering into her tear-streaked face. "Chihiro?"

She yelped, starting back. "H-Haku! I-I was just...uh, that is, I..." Seeing him smile concernedly at her, eyes sparkling, she blushed, eyes downcast. "Where're my mom and dad?"

"I left them with Lin; she's off duty now, and was pretty bored."

"O-oh...okay..." The color was still blossoming across her pretty face, and she cast around for a quick change of topic. "Well, how's Boe?"

"He's doing fine." Haku kept the replies breif and to-the-point, making sure that Chihiro didn't think he'd forgotten about her break-down. His eyes stayed locked with hers as her blush deepened. "Look, Chihiro...What happened to your friend?"

"We were walking...And Ghu asked me to be his _pet," _she spat the word "pet" with venom startling Haku, "and when I refused, he shot her."

Shock worked it's way through his body, but he hid it with surprising ease; _She came so close to being killed! _Realizing how hard this must've been on her, he also saw that she didn't want pity, so he didn't give it. "Why shoot her?"

She seemed to have accepted Sai's death (Haku and Lin's arrival helping that) and, although still shaken by it, new it to be fact and let it her friend go. "Because I wore this band." She held out her hand to show him. He examined it with some satisfaction. "The one woven by Noface, Boe and Zeniba. Also that little bird."

Haku nodded, remembering. He hadn't been there, but in the years that Chihiro had been gone, he'd been filled in.

She sighed, pushing a stray strand of hair away from her face, looking more attractive then ever without trying. "He shouldn't've thought he'd get me. I wouldn't be his for everything in that world. He treats girls like his property, and when a new one comes along he dumps the one he's got. I don't see why they all swoon over him, the jerk. Probably for his devilish good looks."

He didn't know why, but Haku couldn't help but feel strangely pleased that she turned him down. There was silence again, both teens thinking hard. Something was still nagging at Haku's mind though. _What she said...Just before she broke that strange mind-to-mind contact. _"Chihiro...You contacted me, somehow."

"I know." She beamed at him and he had to smile back. "Wasn't it strange?"

"Yes...But what you said...Did you...mean that?"

She looked at him suspiciously. It wasn't like him to be so hesitant and unsure. She struggled to recall what had transpired, and what she'd thought in her breif moment of desperation.

_"Haku...if I ever needed you at any time it would be now. Please. Pleaaase Haku...I...love you."_

Chihiro felt the heat rise to her face as her recent blush reappeared full force. Haku watched her somberly, not showing it, but hopefully, too, waiting for her response.

She stuttered uncontrollably. "I-I...that is, I didn't...N-No!...I did...Uhhhh..." _What now? If I say I didn't that'll be a complete lie, and I would her myself, and maybe him too! If I do, he might not feel the same way, and...Oh, I'm doomed either way, so while accepting my doom, I'll go about it truthfully. _Hiding her face with her hands she turned away slightly. "I-I...I meant it, Haku."

She waited for the inevitable; he would say he didn't love her back, and break her heart again, and all those years of wishing and her whole visit to the Spirit Worl will have been in vain. _I don't think I'll be able to take it..._

"I love you too, Chihiro."

**I'm sorry it was so short! I'm sorry it took me so long to update! I'm sorry I didn't do to good a job on this chappie, and that I might've rushed their relationship a bit! I--**

**Aku:interestedly: You know, you either sound like Wilt, or Ritsu. Hard to tell which one, but I'm thinkin' the monkey.**

**Hikari: You both watch way too much TV.**

**Me: Ristu is from Fruits Basket; he's the monkey from the Chinese zodiac, and he tends to believe he has no purpose in life, and that he causes everyone greif and misery. Wilt is from Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, and he's got a extra-kind, postivie out-look on everything, and in the rare times he does something wrong, usually to help Bloo, a trouble-making friend, he apologizes way too many times. He does that when he's not in trouble, sometimes, too.**

**Aku:shouts: THEY GET THE POINT! Oh, and she doesn't own either. But they're both reaaally, reaaaaally good! Bloo rocks! He's our favorite from FHFIF! And Kyo and Momiji are our favorite characters from Faruba! I think that's what they call FB...**

**Hikari: I rest my case.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ooooooooooooooooooooooookay! Sorry it took me so long to update that last chappie. Our internet connection went whack, so I couldn't get online. X( But, now I can, so, you get a two-fer.**

**Aku: No matter how much she wished she did, six does not own Spirited Away. Hayao Miyazaki does. **

**Me: Miyzaki is one of the best directors in the whole history of movie-making. Everyone hail him.**

Chapter 5

Night fell upon the Spirit World. The full moon shone above the waters, casting a silken, silvery blanket over everything. Lin trotted upstairs, after dinner, and after leading Chihiro's mom and dad to their rooms, to get her well deserved sleep. As she laid out her blankets, talking animatedly to the other girls, she noticed that someone was missing.

"Chihiro?" she called around the bustling room. Opening the sliding door, she stepped onto the balcony to see if her charge was there. What she found made her start, then grin, blushing slightly. Chihiro had fallen asleep leaning against Haku, who was sleeping just as soundly. "Aww...Little love birds." She kneeled down in front of them, eyeing them expertly. "Wow...They look so _innocent _asleep. So human..." Truth be told, their faces wore no signs of distress or worry; sleep had taken all that away.

_They will never live this down._

oooOOOOOOooo

Chihiro woke gently, gradually warding the remainging sleep away. The sun shone brightly, making the water under the balcony sparkle. She blinked, finding herself alone. _Oh, yeah...Haku's the early riser, _she thougth, happiness swelling inside her; memory having brought back his words from last night.

_"I love you too, Chihiro."_

She smiling big, looking more attractive then ever, and jumped to her feet. Scrambling around the still-sleeping girls, she found her apron and tied it quickly, using an old skill from her days wokring at the bathhouse.

Running down the stairs quickly, she burst into the baths. Dodging officials, she jumped into the elevator, and hurriedly pressed, to someone not accustomed to the bathhouse, a randomly selected button. Anyone who knew where that button led, would have thought the girl very brave, or very stupid.

When the door opened, she stepped out into a lavishly decorated hallway. Ornaments hung everywhere, an intricate patterns decorated the walls and ceiling. She stopped to get her bearing, trying to remember which door it was that led into Yubaba's old office. Then, she turned and ran down the hallway until she came to two big, heavy doors with a bronze figure knocker. She didn't use the knocker; instead she opened the door, and silently made her way down the halls, turning a couple times through ajoining corridors.

Finally, she came to a final door. Pushing it open, she found the familiar room, where Yubaba would sit and study rubies and other precious gems, or count her money. The fire was crackling merrily in the fireplace, and a new hearth rug was in place where the old one once was; the old was stained with Haku's blood, and no one seemed to want that memory hanging around.

Looking around the room, she spotted a fat little gray mouse, sitting on the desk, wearing what looked like a red neck-tie and a tiny black bird that resembled a fly sitting on its head. "Boe!" She ran over to the desk and kneeled down so she was level with them. "How'd you get to be a mouse again?"

The mouse looked at her strangely, eyeing her for a few minutes, before finally recognizing her. "Chuu," it replied, nuzzling her hand in a friendly fashion. She smiled and lifted him onto her shoulder.

"Is your mother still around?"

"Chuu..." Boe seemed to bristle angrily. The bird buzzed over to resume it's place on his head.

"What's amatter, Boe?"

Before the little mouse could reply, the door opened. All three friends inside the room yelped and spun around guiltily; Boe fell off Chihiro's shoulder, but the miniture bird caught him before he hit the ground.

Haku watched in amusement. "Just me, just me."

"Haku, what happened to Yubaba?" Chihiro asked as Boe climbed back onto her shoulder.

"Ah, that. She vanished." Haku said gravely.

Chihiro was agast; true she never had liked the evil witch, but she felt sadness for Boe. "How? What happened to make her dissapear?"

"I'm guessing it was her indignation at becoming like one of the slaves here. Everyone decided, having gained some confidence and inspiration from you, Chihiro, that they didn't like the way the bathhouse was being run anymore. When they overthrew her, they elected me to get her job. Now everyone's getting paid decent wages, and they have decent hours. When she saw how much everyone liked the new system, she turned purple in the face, shouted a threat for all to hear, and vanished."

Chihiro was silent, mind racing. "What was the threat?"

"She swore that she'd get even."

Haku blinked when Chihiro looked at him with wide eyes. He had to smile. "Don't worry. We'll be fine. Yubaba's had a tendency to not follow through with her word, remember?"

She nodded and smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. _What if she kills Haku? I know he's a spirit, but he almost died once, didn't he? I can't let that happen again. He means too much to me now...I don't think I could bear losing him a second time._

oooOOOOOOooo

Chihiro's mother had noticed at last. She had finally seen how much time the two spent together, how they spoke to each other gently, voices soft. The way they took each others' hands, or how they looked at one another eyes full of passion.

_My baby girl is in love._

And the funny thing was, to her mother, that she couldn't find a single reason why they shouldn't be able to be together. They are at that certain age, and they've known each other for years.

When she saw her daughter and her daughter's choice, she felt herself smile. They reminded her so much of how she and her husband would act when they dated, so full of life and entergetic. And it was all too clear that the boy would take care of her.

_I approve._

**Sorry it was so short! Sorry! But I really wanted to get past this, cuz I'm not used to fluff! ...But now I have noooo idea where to go with this. I never plan stories out, I just sit down and write 'em, and that proves to be a problem sometimes. -- Anywho, please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks sooo much for all the reviews! it means so much to get such great support from you guys! - And BTW, this is gonna be a slightly fluffy chappie. -- **

**Aku: Sis doesn't own SA but she'd like too. And the song's hers too, not that she's proud of it. Not _all _of it's posted, of course, but some is."**

**Me:whispers confidentialy: He calls me sis cuz he's my twin bro in an RP me and my friends do. If you'd like to _read _the beginning of the RP, it's called "A Howling in the Wind" by one of the RPees, Blacktiger.**

Chapter 6

Chihiro followed Lin silently, mind elsewhere as she helped with her friend's chores; she didn't need to think about what she was doing, which was a blessing. Lin watched her as she flowed absentmindedly through the work with a grace she hadn't had all those years before, and chuckled slightly to herself. _Chihiro has grown up._

Not only had Lin and Chihiro's mother notice these changes, but her father had, too.

He noticed how they looked at each other when they though no one was watching; how gentle and smooth their actions became, how they seemed to be in a world of their own...

He didn't like it.

He didn't want his daughter falling in love with someone he didn't know. Nevermind _she _knows him; young women don't always know what's best for them. _He _didn't like this Haku character, and his word is law.

He didn't fail to notice the soft, approving glances his wife sent in their direction when she saw them together, and how she and that Lin would chuckle serenly behind his back.

He would not allow that Haku to take his daughter's heart, even if his daughter hated him for it.

oooOOOOOOooo

Chihiro's mouth worked furiously as she glanced from her father to her mother. "What...did you...just say?" she asked slowly, in a dangerously low voice. "You did _not _just say what I think you said. Hopefully, it wasn't, and not only for my sake."

Her mother and father gasped audibly as their daughter threatened, actually _threatened _them. Her father's chest swelled and he said in a booming voice, "Now listen here, young lady. Your mother and I--"

Her mouth cleared her throat sharply, earning a radient smile from her daughter.

He seemed to deflate a little as he ammended, "Er, that's I think, anyway, that you shouldn't be seeing that Haku character."

Chihiro had an unreadable expression on her face. "So, daddy," she said in a smooth, quiet, innocent voice. "You want me to love who you say I can love?"

Her father let out a sigh. "Well, not in so many words, but--"

"Fat chance!" She yelled and stomped away.

Her mother sighed, looking defeated, gave her husband a withering look and strode out the door slamming it lightly, leaving the man with a lot to think about.

oooOOOOOOooo

Chihiro smiled, spreading her arms far to either side of her, letting the wind play with her long brown hair. She'd managed to find a way to climb to the roof, and was now enjoying the cool, fresh, unpolluted breeze in this world far above the one below.

She needed this time to let all her emotions and thoughts and worries go to leave her free and flying.

She giggled when she saw everyone staring at her from the ground, and did a little twirl just to show off. She didn't remember the roof was still damp from last night's rain, and she gasped as her foot slipped on the wet wood and she hit the roof and rolled down the side. Just before she fell off the roof entirely, she grasped the roof with one hand.

She dangled periously from the side of the building, hearing gasps and shreiks from below her, but she didn't dare look down. Her eyes were locked onto her hand, as, inch by inch, she felt her had lose her grip.

She let out a muffled yelp as she began to fall. Before she had even moved an foot towards the hard earth, someone's hand grasped her's. She looked down, finding herself hanging in midair, then looked up and smiled in relief.

Haku let out an exasperated sigh. "Lin told me you were up here, and I knew that meant I had to get up here too." Chihiro smiled wide, letting him pull her effortlessly up. She blushed hottly seeing everybody down there cheer in releif and felt her face steam when she recognized her father among them. She turned and hid her face in Haku's shirt as they picked their way back up the roof and to the trap door. She jumped down like a cat, then moved aside so he could do the same.

He put an arm on her shoulders, leading her back down the hallway. "Let's go...We've had enough excitment for one year."

oooOOOOOOooo

_"...when I see, _

_see the moon shining brightly, _

_I know that I'm still anchored here._

_But when I see all the things I've done, _

_see all the things I've shun,_

_then I know, that I must be wrong._

_But when I see, _

_see the moon shining brightly..._

_I'm no longer anchored here."_

Haku listened to the beautiful, strange melody of the ending song, sang by Chihiro to the moon. He smiled when she bowed her head, letting her hair fall around her like a curtain, and murmured a small prayer that he couldn't make out. When she turned around and spotted him, she yelped and blushed. "Haku! Don't _do _that!" she shreiked quietly.

He had to laugh, but coughed it back when she glared at him. "Sorry, Chihiro."

She sighed, the rosebushes of color still blooming on her cheeks. Rubbing them with a silent curse she murmured, "What do you want?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you here?"

"No reason."

"Haku!"

"What?"

"Cut it out!"

"Cut what out?"

"Doing that!"

He was flabbergasted. "What are you talking about?"

She opened her mouth, and found she couldn't figure out why she snapped either. She blushed hottly, turning away. "Nothing."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the two. Chishio fidgeted, running her fingers through her gleaming hair, the special band around her wrist, when two slender, strong arms wrapped around her from behind. She blinked, then smiled, leaning her head against Haku's chest. The moonlight bathed them all in a silvery blanket, and the ocean-like water's below glistened magestically.

Chishio murmured, "Haku?"

"Yes?"

"Would you say it again?"

She felt him shift to look at her. "Say what?"

"What you said three nights ago. Please?"

She let him figure it out. A few seconds later he whispered, as though sharing some sacred secret, "I love you Chishio."

**More of a filler chappie, I know, and worse than the rest, yes, but I feel the need to beseech you this one small favor: please review!**

**Aku: Don't ask me why she's talkin' funny!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks a lot for all the reviews, everyone! Almost fifty, I think, maybe more:beams at the reviewers: And not even ten chapters! It makes me happy! **

**Disclaimer: Why do I even bother?**

Chapter 7

Chihiro quickly tied on her apron, using her teeth expertly to hold it up while she knotted it in place. She thumped down the stairs, turned at a random hall and kept going, not slowing at all. _I'll kill her! _she thought ferociously. _Lin let me sleep in! Well, we did stay up late last night; I can't believe dad actually approves of Haku now! He has no idea how happy that makes me. I've gotta make sure to make it up to him today._

When she looked down to undo a tangle in the apron string, she ran into someone, making her fly backwards. Chihiro groaned and sat up, rubbing her head. Looking at who she ran into, she grinned sheepishly. "Hey, mom," she said coyly, standing up and grinning at her mother. "I didn't see you...What's wrong?" Her mother wasn't meeting her eyes, and was wringing her hands.

"Well, dear...Your father and I have decided that it's high time we went back to the human world."

oooOOOOOOooo

Chihiro stared at her mother in horror. "What?...You're not serious!"

"Chihiro, we've been here for weeks! We have lives back home that we need to return to!" The woman looked ready to cry. "I know you love people here, but our family---"

_"You _have a life and _you _have family! I don't!...It's all here." Chihiro felt her voice soften and catch in her throat. "You can't make me leave him again, mom. You _can't. _I...I think I'd die."

Chihiro didn't see her mother's eyes widen, nor did she hear the small gasp of concern; she was concentrating hard on trying not to cry. Feeling a hand on her shoulder she looked up into Haku's eyes. All her walls and defenses broke--she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Don't let me go again, Haku!" she murmured softly in his ear through her tears. "Please?"

There was a slight hesitation; Chihiro's mother watched hopefully and dreadingly at the same time to see what would happen.

Then Haku put his arms around her too, pulling her closer, into a tight hug. "I won't. I promise."

oooOOOOOOooo

The bathhouse was alight and alive in merry bustlement, figures darting inside and out, dumping buckets, wringing rags. No one was without a radient smile, and everyone was chuckling and happy to be alive--in a manner of speaking. The sky, however, didn't share their joy: although it was morning, the sky was dark and menacing, and thunder growled menacingly while lighting split the sky and rain poured down in buckets.

A bloat figure watched from the skies, cloak bound around it, staring at the bathhouse with hateful dark eyes.

_Vengeance..._

With a sweep of it's arm underneath it's cloak, the thing was gone.

oooOOOOOOooo

Zeniba worked easily, unhurried, sewing in neat rows, doubling back to check her skitches, and then picking back up as easily as she had started. At the fire, Noface was cooking a warm stew for the dreary midday's lunch.

It was then, through the rain hammering the windows, the lightning lighting up the sky and the thunder making the house shake, that a band on one of Zeniba's fingers lit up suddenly, as it had a few weeks ago when Chihiro's friend had been killed. The light that pulsed from it was soft and steady, unlike the breif blinding light during the calamity of the fire-armed boy, which Zeniba took to mean that whatever harm was going to befall Chihiro, it was going to be breif, gradual, slowly, fatal.

Noface noticed too, and had glided over to stand beside her without a sound. She glanced up at him, then back at the cloth-ring on her finger. "I do believe," she said calmly, setting her project down. "That we'll have to skip lunch."

oooOOOOOOooo

_"What!"_

Lin's wrath was understandable, but no one was ready for it--everyone ducked quickly out of the room to give the people the privacy they desired but was too polite to ask for.

Lin, seething, stared at Chihiro's parents as though plotting their death at that moment. "You're making her go back?" she hissed, eyes on fire. "You didn't get it, did you?"

She collapsed against the wall and slowly slid down until she sitting beside where Chihiro sat, tucked into a ball, and was leaned against Haku; Chihiro had long since been made to change into a long white gown, for leisure, she'd been told, by a few of the younger bathgirls; she'd known them to admire her, so she put on the dress for their benefit, hiding the righteous fear inside herself to look pleased as she wore the dress around; a simple no-sleeve design, it hugged her curves, clinging to her waist and chest, but dancing free around her thighs and ankles. Even now, Chihiro still looked divine, with the miserable unshed tears that brightened her eyes.

Lin continued, exasperated to the point of screaming, "Here I thought that maybe if you really paid close attention, if you really tried to see, you'd notice that you can't split them up."

"And why can't we do that?" Chihiro's father asked, bitter and indignant.

"Because...! Oh, humans are idiots!" After a moment, she ammended, "But not you, Hiro." She used her nickname for the more-than-human girl. "Then again...you're not human anymore."

"What are you talking about?" her mother asked softly, eyes on Lin's.

It was before Lin voiced the response, that a great crash shook the entire establishment. Screams and yells from the corridor announced a calamity, and everyone, save the humans, leapt to their feet. Chihiro was the first to peer out of the room, looking up and down the hall, clinging to the doorway rather than be caught up in the throng of shreiking spirits.

"What the heck is going on out here?" Lin roared furiously, resulting in even more panic. Haku layed a hand on her shoulder, with his other arm still being clung to by Chihiro. He stepped out into the hallway, the atmosphere around him his usual calm, and stopped a frantic workboy, whom had lost all relatives only days ago and ventured to the bathhouse for work. "You--do you know what's happening?"

"Yessir! Yubaba! It's Yubaba! She's back!"

Haku's soothness evaporated; his face turned a deathly pale. The workboy grew more nervous and started dancing from one foot to the other. A soft had on his shoulder stopped him. He spun to look at a gently smiling Chihiro. Her hair was swept over one shoulder, hanging like curtain over the side of her fair, beautiful face. The smile she wore was delicate, looking as though it'd break at any moment. Her soft eyes sparkled in pain that was more than physical, and glistened with a hidden hope, that was sheltered behind a wall of subdued fear.

Everyone looked at her, unsure what to think, or to say. She looked, in the plain white gown, with her hair draped over her shoulders, falling partway over one of her eyes, like a goddess.

"It's alright," she whispered, light voice a caress on their ears. She knelt beside the little boy, pulling him into a hug. "You've got to be strong right now, okay? Now--find Chiu, and tell her that Hiro-san said for her to look out for you alright?"

The boy nodded, beaming at her, and dissapeared into the crowd once more.

When Chihiro stood, she looked lifeless. She turned to face Haku, who looked just as melancholy. They nodded, then turned and swept off down hall; the confusion calmed at once as everyone made a path for them, and they, too, were slowly gone.

At once, Chihiro's mother asked, "What did you mean, she's not exactly human?"

"I _meant, _lady, what I said. When Hiro's friend was killed, she was killed too. But that hairband she wore protected her from the pain and the death until later. As soon as she stepped into the Spirit World, she was dead, and her human body is gone. So you see?" Lin gave a humourless laugh. "It'd be better for her to stay here. Where she's _happy. _She'll more than likely become a guardian, one who watches over and protects.That's a high-level notch, right up there with the angels. Ya don't see too many angels around here." Lin turned to glare at them. "What killed her in the end was the resentment she felt for humans that she could never shake; she knew she belonged here, and she could never get back. Do you know how many times we felt her presence in the tunnel? She tried _several _times to get here, and not once did she make it.

And now, isn't life grand, she's here for eternity." Lin's voice held no sarcasm at all as she turned from Chihiro's parents to sprint after Chihiro and Haku. "Here with the ones who truely love and appreciate her. She'll be here with us...And with Haku."

**Before you flame about how short it was, just know that I am being attacked by Writer's Block and was utterly and completely defensless against it's wrath.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, okay, I'm sorry it took so long! I've got a lot on my plate! I've bitten off more then I can chew, and good manners tell us ya can't spit it back out again. :sighs: Ah, well.**

**Anywho, hopefully, I've kept all the grades on my report card up to an A...if not I won't be back on here for a while...:gulps nervously: ...I won't know for about a week...Ehehehe...ehh...**

**Next chappie! Whoooo...! It _may _be the end, depending on whether or not you want me to write another chappie.**

Chapter 8

"What are you saying?"

Lin threw up her hands in aggravation. "No matter how obvious you are with people, they _just don't get it!"_

"Well, c-could you explain a little better?" Chihiro's mother ventured timidly, meeting Lin's gaze levelly.

Lin stared at her, then looked over her shoulder to where Haku and Chihiro strode, side by side, away to face whatever danger lay ahead for them together. Then she turned back with a sigh, running a hand over her face. "Okay, look. Remember that day Hiro's friend was shot?"

Two numb nods.

"Well, the bullet was supposed to hit her. It didn't. I mean, come on, _no one _has _that bad _of an aim. Well, everyone thought it was a miracle! It wasn't. You notice how she _always _did something with her hair? Pigtails, ponytail, braid...? And she _always used the same hairband. _And you never thought to ask why, did you? No, I thought not. Well, she told us why. Three friends of hers wove this special band--it had a protective spell on it, one that would keep her from harm. She wore it, and it saved her--for a while."

Chihiro's father snarled vehemently, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't get snippity with me," Lin retorted hotly. "I know you're own _daughter _better than _you!" _

Chihiro's father turned scarlet with rage, but kept his mouth shut.

"_Anyway," _Lin said with exaggerated patience. "She was fine for a while--which is when we came in. Her soul cried out. To Haku. He told me, and we both went to find her. We brought her back to the spirit world, but...she left her body behind."

oooOOOOOOooo

Chihiro didn't know this sudden feeling, but as she glanced sidelong at her love, she realized she didn't care. His eyes were sparkling, even in his anger, so unlike the steely eyes he had when she'd first traveled to the spirit world. His jaw was set and he wasn't frowning, or smiling--he'd closed off all emotion for what lay ahead.

She smiled softly, and slipped her hand in hers. When he looked at her, eyes curious, she whispered, "Together?"

Then he'd smiled and looked ahead again. "How else?"

They came to two large double doors. It was oddly silent on the other side. Casting a breif confused glance at each other, unaware that everyone was watching them, they pushed the doors open.

Chihiro was caught in a sudden, magical pull, that yanked her from Haku and into the room. With a scream, she was gone.

The doors banged shut, then the whole room dissapeared, doors and all.

Haku stared at the empty void where the room had once been. He dropped to his knees in defeat, staring at where his love had dissapeared. After a while, he stood, fuming, an odd stinging in his eyes. A hand on his shoulder made him jump and turn around--

Zeniba. Behind her stood a peacable Noface--whatever in the bathhouse that had made him lose his cool before was gone now, and he stood meekly behind Zeniba like a lonely dog. And Lin tupped into view, panting, and Chihiro's parents soon behind her.

"Now, now, prince, you musn't loose your control," she said quietly, handing him an embroidered handkercheif. Taking it, he frowned then realized his eyes were stinging. He quickly ducked his head, wiping them on his sleeve, forgetting he had a handkercheif. Handing it back, he whispered, "What do we do? That pig of of a witch--no offense--took Chihiro!"

"Don't fret, young lad," she said easily, tucking her handkercheif away. "Chihiro will make out okay."

"How are you so sure?" he asked miserably.

"Well, think of it this way--before, Chihiro saved a raging dragon from a painful death, traveled to a powerful witch's house to beg of it's forgiveness, freed a boy she loved from his slavery...I'm sure she can handle herself now."

Haku blushed, but said levelly, "It is Yubaba in there, then, isn't it?"

"Aye, lad. 'Tis indeed."

"And Chihiro's just a new spirit, how's she going to face that magic?"

"She won't be able to, if the one she loves doubts her," Zeniba said airily. A sudden _Chuu _noise made her look down and smile. "Ah, if it isn't the mouse Boe and Zizo." True enough, the tiny bird buzzed up to her shoulder, carrying the fat gray mouse, and they bother settled there easily. Zeniba looked back at Haku. "So..?"

Haku looked down, away, then back up again. "I've no doubt she can save herself. But I won't stop worrying." Lin smiled sadly and laid a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Zeniba nodded. "Deal."

oooOOOOOOooo

_Darkness, all around her. Nothing but empty blackness. She stood unafraid, however, a pure light in the inky pool. _Her magic must be quite low if this is all she can do, _Chihiro thought icily, crossing her arms, brown hair swaying around her in her irritation. With a growl, she quickly pulled it into a ponytail so it would be out of her way._

_"Ah, you finally arrived, child," a cruel, cold voice echoed around her. It was eerily familiar, and Chihiro had no trouble placing it, shoving away the shiver it sent up her spine._

_"Not willingly, Yubaba!" she yelled angrily. "Let me go, and leave this place!"_

_"I don't think I will, girl-child. Oh! How wrong I am. You're no girl anymore."_

_"What are you saying? I'm male?"_

_"No, you ignorant fool!" the voice snapped, pulsating around her painfully. Chihiro winced, but elsewise stood firm. "I am saying, that you are no longer human--you are Spirit."_

_Chihiro was silent, working all that into her mind instead of opening her mouth to snap something that was likely untrue. Yubaba wouldn't spout nonsense this early in the game, she reminded herself, so this has to be true. "I'm a spirit? That's good news for me. That means I can never leave the spirit world, right?"_

_Yubaba was a little put off. "Y...Yes..."_

_"Then great!" Chihiro giggled. She could feel the confusion and frustration in Yubaba's essence, and laughed._

_"Quiet!" Yubaba shreiked._

_"No!" Chihiro yelled back, milking this for all it was worth. She knew that Yubaba was incapable of hurting her, so long as she didn't have her name--and Chihiro wasn't going to give it to her again._

_"If you do not obey me...I'll take your precious Haku from you."_

_Chihiro froze midlaugh. Her mind went blank for a moment. _No...No, no, no! Not after I've gotten him back! She won't take him from me again! I'll die before that happens!...But I'm already dead...aren't I? What would happen if I died here? _Can _I--oh, of course I can! _she interrupted herself furiously. _Haku nearly died, right! So...no, what does that matter?

_Apparently, her hesitation was all that was needed to fuel Yubaba's new threat. "Ah, yes, you're lovely spirit-mate. How tragic it would be if something were to happen to him. Say..." A sudden image of Haku being slain filled Chihiro's mind, sent there by Yubaba. It was so grotesque, so precise, that Chihiro screamed, dropping to her knees, both hands clutching her head. ..._No...!

_"How horrifying to know that it was his love whom had brought his destruction?"_

_The image changed, and it was she who held the sword that peirced through Haku. "No!"_

_"Oh, but yes, child! If you do not give me back your name, he will be killed! And when a spirit dies, they're to wander the dark realms for an eternity of solitude and loneliness and nightmares." Haku lay, bleeding on the ground in the image, and the fake Chihiro stood above him, sword raised, about to plunge the blade into his gut for the fatal blow. _

_Chihiro screamed again, tears streaming down her face. They flew down, hit the ground, and the image rippled like water._

_More tears distorted the image, the tears of a pure being, and the light that was Chihiro shone brighter. She still kneeled, sobbing, but her essence rose and roared, "I WILL NEVER KILL HAKU!" Her glow was painfully bright, now, and all of Yubaba's darkness lost itself to the light. _

_With a final shreik, Yubaba, grasping and scrabbling for another foothold, another threat, found none and was gone for good._

_Chihiro still kneeled and cried, the image of a dieing Haku, and she his killer, fresh in her mind._

_Her sobs echoed and rose tragicly, pulsing through the now-normal room._

oooOOOOOOooo

When the room reappeared, and Haku pulled open the doors and all the spirits craned to look into the room as he, Zeniba, Lin and Noface rushed in, they found Chihiro kneeling in it's center, crying softly.

When Haku knelt beside her, she didn't notice his presence. Laying a hand on her shoulder, she glanced up quickly, eyes wide and red from crying, beautiful face streaked with tears, she let out a choked sob and threw her arms around him, shaking and trembling in his tight hold.

"I'd never, never kill you, Kohaku River," she whispered, terrified.

Haku didn't know what had just transpired, nor did he care to find out at this moment. For now, he only scooped Chihiro into his arms and kissed her forhead tenderly.

"I'd never worry about that," he said softly. "I love you far too much."

She'd only sighed softly, nestled into him, and fell out of conciousness. Her last words before sleep overtook her were, "I love you, too, Haku."

**Okay. There was that chappie. Whoo...! Er, anywho, sorry it was short.**

**Do you want me to write one more chappie? If so, I'll try. If not, then I won't.**

**G'head and review, tell me what you thought, and I thank you.**

**-distant6**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, last chappie! Whoo! I'm really glad you guys liked this fic. It was great having so much support!**

Chapter 9

Chihiro awoke to find herself in Haku's arms. Blinking in surprise, she looked up and found Haku himself fast asleep. His face was weary and he still wore his work clothes. Chihiro layed her head on his shoulder, as she lay cradled in his arms, and closed her eyes again. As long as she was with him, everything was okay.

oooOOOOOOooo

Yubaba had been destroyed. Zeniba and Noface went back to their home in the country. The bathhouse had been repaired. And Chihiro's parents were preparing to leave.

All these facts were unknown to Chihiro, who slept still. Her energy had been drained, and it was all she could to open her eyes, much less speak. So she'd slept.

However, Haku had woken up and lay prey to these thoughts alone. So when Lin came in and told him that Chihiro's parents were requesting his presence in the main hall, he'd gotten up, Chihiro sleeping in his arms. Lin smiled at them, a pretty, yet sad smile, and opened the door for the two spirits to go out first.

Every spirit fell silent at the sight of them. Haku, tall and weary, ambling down the hallway with Chihiro in his hold. Her long brown hair swayed and glistened in the dim light, and her form was curled up and nestled against Haku. With a look of complete relaxation on her face, the new spirit truely looked like a deity.

When they reached the main hall, Chihiro's mother and father were waiting expectantly, donning their coats. At the sight of her daughter sleeping like an angel in the arms of the man she loved, her mother smiled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Chihiro's father wasn't as easily impressed. He held out his arms to take his daughter, and grunted when that didn't happen.

Haku stood, eyes on the ground, grip on Chihiro tightening. In that moment, he truely looked like the real Haku--now that they were really looking, the workgirls and -boys saw that it seemed like niether Haku nor Chihiro had aged. The looked like the same children they were when they'd met. And the way Haku stood now, with grim, scared determination written all over his face, he _felt _young, young and helpless.

"No," he said quietly, softly, not meeting the man or woman's eyes.

"What?" the man asked in surprise, eyes trained on the young being before him.

"I won't just hand her over to you. I can't. I promised her that I wouldn't let her go again," he whispered, almost pleadingly. He wasn't afraid of this man, nor was he afraid he'd bend and give Chihiro to him; he just didn't want to make enemies with Chihiro's father.

"Dear," her mother siad, laying a hand on the man's arm. "Please..."

"What?" he exploded. "Do you expect me to leave my daughter in a world of monsters and ghosts and goblins, in the car of a _boy _we've never met before this? You honestly believe I'd even for a second consider it?"

"Yes!" the quiet woman cried suddenly. "Yes, that's what I expect! She loves him! There's nother you can do about that!"

The man stared at his wife in shock, before his face tightened in anger and he stepped forward, extending his arms out to Haku in a silent order for the young spirit to hand over the girl in his arms. "Give her to me."

Haku bowed his head. It was all too much...He'd lost her once...no, he'd forced her from this world once, rightly thinking it was in her best interest. He'd gotten her back, but nearly lost her forever to the hands of an evil witch that was angry at him, not her...But now, even when she'd survived, someone was trying to take her away again. He didn't notice the tears running down his shadowed face, but, considering the mutters and a few scattered gasps. "No," he repeated, finally meeting the mortal's eyes. His own eyes were narrowed and livid, a deep contrast from the warm, hopeful ones he'd just discarded. "I won't."

The man threw up his arms. "Why don't you ask her?"

With a shrug, Kohaku River knelt slightly and let Chihiro slide from his arms until she was on the ground, then he pulled her into his lap. "Chihiro. Hiro, wake up," he whispered softly, brushing his lips across her forehead.

She stirred slowly, and opened huge, warm amber eyes. "Haku? What is it?"

"You father wants you to go home now."

"No."

Haku smiled into her hair, then stood, and helped her do so to. "Are you sure?" he asked, suddenly concerned. "You're positive? You know they'd only be able to see you on the solstice, right?"

She smiled wearily, yet radiently and touched Haku's cheek with a delicate hand. Then, fraility gone, she stood, and strode to her parents, swaying a little from sleepiness.

"Good-bye, mother, father," she said, hugging her mother tightly. "I'll visit you, like Haku said, on the solstice."

Eyes brimming with happy tears, her mother hugged her back. "Of course, I know you will. And I know you'll be happy here."

Her father was flabbergasted. "What? You're just going to--" Doing something she hadn't done in years, Chihiro turned to her father, and burrowed into his arms. "Love you, daddy," she murmured softly, sincerely. "And I hope you're not angry."

Chihiro's father visibly relented, and Chihiro knew this when he put his arms around her. Then, he said, "You're truely in love with this man?"

"Of course!"

Her father sighed, stood and put an arm around his wife. "Then who am I to step in between you two?"

Chihiro beamed at him, and then walked back to Haku. She gave her love a unique, genuine smile, one only he could receive from her, and he mirrored the action.

Lin, somewhere in the crowd, fanned herself dramatically, with a theatrical wrist over her forehead. "Oh, the drama," she drawled quietly, hiding her mounting respect and pride for her two young friends in her sarcastic actions.

Chihiro stuck her tongue out at her, then continued to wave as her parents left the bathhouse and journeyed down the road, across the small, trickling stream, and to the mouth of the tunnel. Turning back, the last thing they saw would be their daughter, safe in the embrace of her love, waving with a loving smile.

**Finished! I hope you enjoyed the fic! I sure did like writing it...It was honestly my first fluffy fic...I hope I didn't overdo it too much at some points...Anywho, thanks for so much support, guys!**

**Ja Ne, tomodachis!**

**-distant6**


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